166 The Aborigines of Brazil. 



this may possibly be owing to their hardly ever eating hot 

 foods. Teeth and still more bone diseases are accordingly 

 rare among the Indians. I have only seen a few diseases 

 of bone, viz., exostoses of the fibula, which were treated 

 with advantage by the juice of Euphorbiaceae and foment- 

 ing with the leaves of a variety of pepper. Toothache 

 among them is generally rheumatic, and seldom caused by 

 caries of the teeth. 



I have never seen curvature of the spine, club-foot, or other 

 deformities of the skeleton. But it is probable, that when 

 children are born among them with any such deformi- 

 ties, they are made away with immediately after birth. 

 It is strange enough, and may serve as a trait in the moral 

 constitution of these races, that the Indian always represents 

 the spirit, called Gurupira, the terror of the woods, the pro- 

 duct of his own superstition, and an enemy to man, with a club- 

 foot, or with one growing forwards out of his chest. Lame 

 and halt are occasionally seen : their ailments have always 

 had a traumatic origin. Intentional limping, a result of 

 civilization in our children, is unknown among the Indians. 

 Diseases of the organs of respiration. 



They are comparatively speaking uncommon among the 

 aborigines of America. They suffer very seldom from chronic 

 lung disease, although now and then, galloping consumption 

 is the consequence of acute chest affections, pleurisies and 

 pneumonias. The open-chested build and the regular occu- 

 pation of the Indian, who is hardened by regular exercise in 

 the open air, and the mild pleasant climate, prevent the fre- 

 quent occurrence of these diseases. 



Gout. 



Though well known as the chief disease among the red 

 population in N. America, gout is here scarcely known, as the 

 use of brandy has not yet spread itself extensively enough. 

 This poison operates most injuriously on those communities of 

 Indians, which though removed from Europeans, still have 



